PCWD [Pine Cove Wataer District] is an excellent water provider with very outstanding people.
But, why is PCWD contemplating raising rates again when they are only in the second of a three-year phase in rate increase?
And as to the lack of full-timers? Not in my neighborhood. I have had four new full-time neighbors in the last year. Besides the increase in full-time neighbors, my water bill only went up $4 when I moved up here full-time 32 months ago, as compared to the prior 12 years, largely due to the $50 base charge before the first gallon is used.
Apparently what PCWD really needs is to sell more water. And the rumor mill has it that Stonewood’s 70-plus customers might be swallowed up by PCWD in the near future.
But it’s the vicious conservation circle — the more water we save, the more ratepayers need to make up the lost cash flow. We can’t win. (Perhaps a dozen or so desert-lawn-loving-water-wasters with their four-figure water bills could bring their must-have-a-lawn mentality with them could provide a solution?)
But seriously, why not start by matching salaries and benefits to what the median income is in the pensionless private sector that live in Pine Cove instead of raising rates (again)? Or didn’t anyone notice that voters severely curtailed pensions in San Diego and San Jose earlier this month?
Mike Reno
Pine Cove
